Hard Time or a Nice Time?

This article in hard left pommy paper The Guardian may cause a few heart palpitations amongst the more conservative of the Whale army .It does raise some interesting points though about prisons:

Halden prison smells of freshly brewed coffee. It hits you in the workshop areas, lingers in the games rooms and in the communal apartment-style areas where prisoners live together in groups of eight. This much coffee makes you hungry, so a couple of hours after lunch the guards on Unit A (a quiet, separated wing where sex offenders are held for their own protection) bring inmates a tall stack of steaming, heart-shaped waffles and pots of jam, which they set down on a checked tablecloth and eat together, whiling away the afternoon.

The other remarkable thing is how quiet the prison is. There isn’t any of the enraged, persistent banging of doors you hear in British prisons, not least because the prisoners are not locked up much during the day. The governor, Are Høidal, is surprised when I ask about figures for prisoner attacks on guards, staff hospitalisations, guard restraints on prisoners, or prisoner-on-prisoner assaults. I explain that British prisons are required to log this data, and that the last prison I visited had a problem with prisoners melting screws into plastic pens, to use as stabbing weapons; he looks startled, says there isn’t much violence here and he can’t remember the last time there was a fight.

Halden is one of Norway‘s highest-security jails, holding rapists, murderers and paedophiles. Since it opened two years ago, at a cost of 1.3bn Norwegian kroner (£138m), it has acquired a reputation as the world’s most humane prison. It is the flagship of the Norwegian justice system, where the focus is on rehabilitation rather than punishment.

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This all goes back to the age old theory of punishment versus rehab – why actually do you put people away behind bars? We so called civilised countries always struggle with our own humanity when faced within inhuman behaviour.

TCrwdb

We put them behind bars to protect the 95% of law-abiding citizens – the inhuman behaviour is that of the criminals.

Polishpride

Unfortunately in many cases our current approach only makes them more of a danger to society than when they went in. Just a little inconvenient fact there for your arguement.
In looking deeper countries like Norway have established that most crime comes from disassociation with the victims and not knowing how to interract with other people. By putting them in an environment where they can learn these skills the result is they become a much better member of society who is no longer a threat to the society itself.

Rockfield

All dependant on economies …. I reckon the cheapest would be 147 grains of lead*

R.

*7.62×51mm NATO ball cartridge

Random66

That would certainly lower the recidivism rates.

Polishpride

works in theory but where do you draw the line becomes the issue, is it any law broken results in your 147 solution. Is it just violent crime, then is it all violent crime or is there a level there too. What happens if you disagree with the government of the day and they start passing laws to deal with dissenters you 147 solution becomes exceptionally effective for them then doesn’t it.

The alternative is that we as a country could start trying things that have been proven to work elsewhere in the world rather than just standing there next to America pissing into the wind.

Boss Hogg

I am very sure that recidivist rates are much lower in Singapore and also more affordable for the state.

Norway keep finding ways to spend the oil money and the extreme tax take. Easy to be nice and socialist when oil is sloshing around the economy – IDIOTS.

Polishpride

works in theory but where do you draw the line becomes the issue, is it any law broken results in your 147 solution. Is it just violent crime, then is it all violent crime or is there a level there too. What happens if you disagree with the government of the day and they start passing laws to deal with dissenters you 147 solution becomes exceptionally effective for them then doesn’t it.

The alternative is that we as a country could start trying things that have been proven to work elsewhere in the world rather than just standing there next to America pissing into the wind.

Hang him

Rope is even cheaper you can reuse it.

orangestud

This all sounds nice and dandy BUT there is not enough emphasis on punishment. I think 3 quarters of the prison sentence should be spent in a small cramped uncomfortable prison where they are served plain unsalted/unsweetened food, and maybe issued some corporal punishment. That will satisfy the victims need for justice/revenge (which is fair enough). The last quarter of the sentence should be served in a prison such as the one described where they can learn to behave like civilised humans who may be of some use when they are released.

Are you kidding?

Wow, there are a few people who have already commented on this list that seem to think people like Jules Mikus deserve this sort of luxurious treatment. After all, it wasn’t his fault he raped and killed Teresa Cormack. We need to think about his feelings and bring him a big pile of steaming pancakes. William Bell and Antonie Dixon would also be prime candidates for this prison.

I’ve got no issue with this sort of liberal B.S. as long as one condition is met – once they go in, they never come out. That would also fix the recidivism rate.

Random66

When it comes to Jules Mikus and the like I’m all for Rockfields suggestion.

BR

When it comes to dealing with serious crime, Singapore sets a good example.